Restaurants with much fancier addresses could learn a thing or two about hospitality from Lefty’s Lobster and Chowder House, the casual seafood restaurant Chris Papageorge runs with his sister, Dana, and brother, Gus, in a doleful Addison strip mall. Step inside their dining room, with tables on two levels dressed in red and white checks and red walls decorated with fish trophies and family photos, and the greeting never fails to be warm. Newcomers are spared the tiresome “Have you dined with us before?” speech, in favor of “What can I get you to drink?”

The place is called “Lefty’s” because it specializes in culls — Maine lobsters that have lost a claw. If you love lobsters, the place is a great find because the culls are bargain-priced — at $21.95 for a single 1-pounder, $36.95 for twins (two 1-pounders) or $49.95 for triplets, all including a baked potato and vegetable. Now and then, “lobster madness” strikes — that means just $13.95 for singles, or you can add a 1-pound cull to any main course for — are you sitting down? — $11. They arrive simply boiled, with lemon, drawn butter and bib. Every time I’ve had one, it’s been succulent, sweet and perfectly cooked — heaven for the lobster purist.

You might start with a salad, such as a well-dressed Caesar fashioned from crisp hearts of Romaine, or a Greek salad more appealing than most. Recently, Blue Point oysters on the half shell offered as a special were bland and flabby. But there’s a fine, silky lobster bisque with deep, pure lobster flavor; add extra lobster meat for $2.95 and you’ve got quite the elegant starter. I prefer the simple, garlicky steamed clams to the mussels marinara, which are fine, too, but the delicate flavor of the mussels is overwhelmed a bit by very decent marinara sauce.

Dig into a lobster as the main event, and you’re treated like royalty — even if it’s a 1-pounder. The servers, most of whom have been with the 16-year-old restaurant from the beginning, are super-attentive, bringing more lemon wedges, insisting you wear the silly bib (even tying it for you), replacing bowls of shells, refilling wine glasses. They seem truly happy to work there, which speaks well for the Papageorge family. One server, who introduced himself as Jeremy, even offered to get tools from the kitchen when my husband’s watchband broke during dinner.

If you prefer a larger lobster with both claws, you can order a “big lobster.” One night I asked for the smallest big one available, a 3-pounder. My heart sank when it came to the table: It had been split and broiled on top. Thorough cooking had been a problem with these bigger ones, explained the server, so they run them under the broiler after they’re boiled, to make sure the meat’s done all the way through. Not a good idea: This one was tough, overcooked and dry. I love sucking the meat out of the swimmerets (the legs), but these were oddly empty, and the tomalley and body meat were dried out. What a disappointment. Best to stick with the small culls, and the kitchen’s happy to add an extra claw for $3. In fact, the staff is happy to customize just about anything.

Specials can be worthwhile, such as a nicely sautéed butterfish topped with lobster meat, tomato, spinach and capers. Another of pan-fried shrimp and chunks of lobster had a lovely Champagne-butter sauce touched with orange and tarragon, but the shrimp had an odd, metallic taste.

Among the desserts there’s a homey, nicely custardy coconut cream pie. But if you’re a fan of Key lime pie, you’d be silly not to go for the majestic, tangy one at Lefty’s: Topped with an extravagant crown of fluffy toasted meringue, it’s a real winner.

Lefty’s Lobster and Chowder House (3 stars)

Price: $$-$$$ (lunch appetizers and soups $4.95 to $11.95, salads $6.95 to $20.95, sandwiches $7.95 to $15.95, main courses $6.95 to 17.95; dinner appetizers, soups and salads $4.95 to $13.95, lobsters $21.95 to $49.95 for culls to market price for large lobsters, main courses $13.95 to $89.95; desserts $6.95)

Service: Warm, friendly and extremely eager to please, the waitstaff tends to treat all comers like regulars.

Ambience: The dining room, with red-and-white-checked tablecloths, red walls sporting black-and-white family photos and a bar that’s perpetually filled with regulars, feels like a seafood shack on the Jersey shore.

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About Leslie Brenner

Restaurant critic Leslie Brenner brings a wealth of experience and exacting standards to the job. Her reviews and dining features appear Fridays in Guide. Leslie is an accomplished restaurant critic, author and editor. Leslie previously directed restaurant, cooking and wine coverage as food editor for the Los Angeles Times’ award-winning section. She was also a restaurant critic for the Los Angeles Times and founding editor of The Daily Dish food blog. She is author or co-author of five food and wine books, including The Fourth Star: Dispatches From Inside Daniel Boulud’s Celebrated New York Restaurant.and American Appetite, as well as a critically acclaimed novel, Greetings From the Golden State. She has won a long list of writing and editing awards, including honors from the Association of Food Journalists and the James Beard Foundation. During her 20-year career, she has also been a contributing editor at Travel + Leisure and has written for Harper's, New York magazine and many other print and online publications. Follow Leslie on Twitter @lesbren.

Hometown: Los Angeles

Education: Leslie has a Bachelor of Arts in English from Stanford University and a Master of Fine Arts in writing from Columbia University.